[WEB4LIB] RE: FBI to monitor libraries

[Cantona, Eric]

Andrew,
	I agree with some of what you say and I think it's a worthwhile
discussion for all.

	I don't think anyone advocates treating a patron as a criminal nor
do I believe that a failure to provide electronic privacy results in such
treatment.

	The postal analogy doesn't quite fit because a post office, where
only postal employees have access to the mail prior to delivery, is unlike
the internet where countless parties could access electronic information
using countless opportunities. A library techie could prevent some but
certainly not all of this all of the time.

	So, I really want to avoid the topic of criminal intent or whether
or not a patron has something to hide.  Neither is necessary to result in
vulnerability.  I'm more interested in whether an expectation of privacy
could be possible and whether we as library staff could possibly guarantee
it or even "lean on the assumption of privacy".

	If not, then does the statement, "*Anyone* should have a reasonable
expectation of
privacy for *anything* they do in a library", as another member put it,
really hold water in the Internet Age?

	The Supreme Court has ruled recently I believe (badly paraphrasing
here) that a search warrant is not required  where a reasonable expectation
of privacy does not exist so I believe this issue to be more complicated
than we'd like.
EC

-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew I. Mutch [mailto:amutch at waterford.lib.mi.us]
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 10:18 AM
To: Cantona, Eric
Cc: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Re: [WEB4LIB] RE: FBI to monitor libraries


Eric,

Good question. I think someone earlier posed the question of whether what
you view on the Internet is akin to what you check out on your library
card or is it, as Paul suggested, more like what is posted on a billboard.
Personally speaking, I don't feel I have anything to hide but I also
don't think it is anyone's business what I read or what I view on the
Internet. I would hope that despite the constant erosion of privacy in
this world, that we would lean in favor of an assumption of privacy. That
doesn't mean we are protecting the criminal elements. Our library laws
provide exceptions for criminal investigations. So could policies dealing
with Internet use. But why should every user be treated like a criminal?

We don't allow postal employees to open our mail, even though the building
and facilities are all "owned" by the government and government employees
process and deliver the mail. Why should someone's personal e-mail or
other activities on the Internet be subject to government snooping? Just
because you can technically look at someone's information, doesn't mean
you should. 

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library



On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, Cantona, Eric wrote:

> A member wrote previously:
> 
> > >I don't care much about what any court has said.
> > > This is what my profession
> > > holds me to.
> > > *Anyone* should have a reasonable expectation of
> > > privacy for *anything* they do
> > > in a library.
> 
> But what is a reasonable expectation of privacy?  The Internet is a public
> network.  The PC is a public access node.  The library is a public
building.
> 
> How much privacy can one assume from that setting?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Donna Winter [mailto:dwinter at tln.lib.mi.us]
> Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 9:20 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: [WEB4LIB] RE: FBI to monitor libraries
> 
> 
> > 
> > Along similar lines -- 
> > Most librarians I know and I have been working with them for many years
> are extremely fine people -- 
> > Why they and/or the profession would be so set on providing a safe haven
> for illegal activity totally eludes me.
> > (Just my .02 -- don't bother flaming me  - because you won't change my
> mind any more than I will yours.)
> > 
> 
> Hear, Hear! If you've got nothing to hide, who cares what you read/look at
> on the internet. It's been really bugging me that so many people on this
> list are bent on protecting the rights of suspected criminals and nobody
> has spoken up on the opposite side. 
> 
> 
> 			----------------------------
> Donna Winter					Livonia Civic Center Library
> Reference Librarian, Adult Services		32777 Five Mile Road
> email:  dwinter at tln.lib.mi.us			Livonia, Michigan
> phone: (734) 466-2494				ref. desk: (734) 466-2490
> http://tln.lib.mi.us/~dwinter			http://livonia.lib.mi.us
> 
> 
>